Jade Carey leads Olympians on the comeback at Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships

Jade Carey is the headliner in her hometown at the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Phoenix, but the two-time gold medalist isn't the only Olympian on the comeback trail at nationals this week.

>Carey returned to elite competition this summer for the first time since the Paris Games, where she helped the U.S. to women's team gold. She's ramping up toward what could be a third and final Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

>“I’ve enjoyed so much — competing, doing gymnastics and pushing myself — but I feel like, definitely after this one, a home Olympics would be so cool that it would just be kind of the perfect way to go out and move on to what’s next," she said last month.

class="PagePromo-content">2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships: How to watch, schedule, field, preview

class="PagePromo-description">The nation’s top gymnasts compete in Phoenix, live on NBC Sports and Peacock.

class="PagePromo-byline"> Nick Zaccardi,

class="WatchScheduleCarousel-slide-started">Carey, who also won Tokyo Olympic gold on floor exercise, is vying for a spot on the five-woman team for October's World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

>That squad won't be decided until a selection competition in early autumn, but performances at nationals will also factor in.

>Other contenders include Hezly Rivera, the youngest U.S. Olympian across all sports in Paris at age 16. Rivera is authoring a mini comeback of her own.

>She won the 2025 U.S. all-around title — the youngest champ since 2017 — but later rolled her ankle, taking her out of contention for the 2025 World Championships.

>Skye Blakely, the 2024 U.S. all-around runner-up to Simone Biles, is expected to compete in her first elite all-around since rupturing an Achilles two days before the 2024 Olympic Trials while training on floor exercise.

>She competed at the 2025 Nationals on balance beam and uneven bars only.

>"It has been a very measured return that's been slow and mindful of my body," Blakely said last week. "So for it to all come together and for it to be next week that I get to fully return back to doing what I love at the level that I love, I'm just really excited and proud of the journey that I've been on."

>Leanne Wong, the 2025 World all-around silver medalist, is coming off a wrist injury that limited her at the U.S. Classic tune-up meet on July 19.

>Up-and-comers include Reese Esponda, who won the U.S. Classic all-around. The Montana native now trains at the Biles family gym in Texas.

class="PagePromo-content">Jade Carey thought her elite gymnastics career was over. Now she’s back for a last Olympic run

class="PagePromo-description">Jade Carey hopes to compete at a third — and final — Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

class="PagePromo-byline"> Nick Zaccardi,

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Frederick Richard eyes first U.S. all-around titleTwo of the five men from the 2024 Olympic bronze-medal team will compete Thursday and Saturday.

>Frederick Richard, the 2024 Olympic Trials all-around champ, can win his first U.S. all-around title.

>Richard was runner-up to Asher Hong at the 2025 U.S. Championships but was not selected for the six-man team for the 2025 Worlds, which included individual events only. His chances were hurt by not placing in the top two on any individual apparatus at nationals.

>That didn't dampen his confidence for this year.

>"I'm locking in for world championships this October," Richard, who just completed his college career at Michigan, said in a social media video posted May 5. "I'm calling it. There will be a gold medal from worlds on my neck, somehow, probably all-around."

Stephen Nedoroscik back, but dealing with injuryStephen Nedoroscik, the famed Pommel Horse Guy from the Paris Games, also missed the 2025 World team. The 2025 Nationals marked his first competition since the 2024 Olympics and after taking nine months off from training.

>This year, he's coming back from October 2025 surgery on his right hip after sustaining a double labrum tear and cartilage damage. While the hip is now pain-free, he has dealt with a shoulder injury since mid-May.

>Due to the injuries, Nedoroscik said he feels less prepared than he did going into the 2025 U.S. Championships off his long break.

>"I’d love to make national team again and anything else would be a blessing," he said in response to emailed questions last week.

>A minimum of 15 men make the national team.

>As in the women's field, one gymnast in this week's men's field has won a U.S. all-around title. That's 2017 champ Yul Moldauer, who missed all of 2025 due to a suspension for missed drug tests. Moldauer has never failed a test.

>Shane Wiskus, who joined Moldauer on the Tokyo Olympic team, is also back after sitting out 2025 following shoulder surgery that February.

>Paris Olympians Asher Hong and Brody Malone, who combined to win the last five U.S. all-around titles, aren't competing. Malone is taking 2025 off but intends to return in 2026.

class="PagePromo-content">Brody Malone to miss Xfinity U.S. Championships during break from gymnastics

class="PagePromo-description">Brody Malone is a three-time U.S. all-around champion and two-time Olympian.

class="PagePromo-byline"> Nick Zaccardi,

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